Keydan |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hello once again James!
This is one of thosse questions, that start holy wars, and at out table we rant and fight for hours aout it, but I just want some input from someone in the top brass.
So, what was the reasoning for allowing rougues steak attack constructs, undead, plants and more?
I am one of those people who gets the concept of "if it has a solid form - it has weak spots" but many do not.. what could be a solid reasoning for others to understand this.
Thanks in advance.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
How do fey in general feel about gnome adventurers they encounter? Do they consider them kin, or allies? Or do they view them as so distantly related that the kinship is no longer there?
"Fey" is an entire category of monster that spans all nine alignments, so that's a pretty broad question. Some would feel sad for the gnomes, some might consider them traitors, some would welcome them as long lost friends... but in the most part, they would treat gnomes as they would any other humanoid, as gnomes are, today, so far removed from the First World that they're no longer fey and haven't been for many many many generations.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Thought you'd enjoy the cover to the latest issue of the Swedish version of "The Phantom", was I right?
You were indeed!
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Bloodborne questions.
- Favourite boss?
- Least favourite boss?
- Favourite melee weapon?
- Favourite ranged weapon? Least favourite as well?
Favorite boss: Amygdala
Least Favorite boss: They're all pretty cool. There's not one that stands out as a least favorite.
Favorite Melee: Threaded cane
Favorite Ranged weapon: The pistol.
Don't have least favorite weapons either. Haven't really played much with them, as the cane just feels so right.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
7 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hello once again James!
This is one of thosse questions, that start holy wars, and at out table we rant and fight for hours aout it, but I just want some input from someone in the top brass.
So, what was the reasoning for allowing rougues steak attack constructs, undead, plants and more?
I am one of those people who gets the concept of "if it has a solid form - it has weak spots" but many do not.. what could be a solid reasoning for others to understand this.
Thanks in advance.
Two reasons.
1) It lets rogues use their core ability more often, and lets them play the game without getting shut down.
2) Popular culture and literature alike are rife with examples of someone doing critical hits or sneak attacks to things like constructs (in the movie Jason and the Argonauts, Jason defeats the iron statue Talos by attacking a weak spot on the statue's ankle), undead (all zombie movies have the "shoot them in the head" thing; vampires die if you hit them in the heart or cut off the head, etc.), and so on. In fact, the idea of something that's normally hard to kill because it's not alive or undead or whatever works STRONGER with the trope of "You have to hit them in the exact right spot to hurt or kill them." Which is precisely what sneak attack is all about.
Archpaladin Zousha |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
If there were a Pathfinder animated series or something and you could choose any voice actors you wanted, who would you choose for some of "your" characters like:
Merisiel?
Ameiko?
Shalelu?
Desna?
Shensen?
Paladin of Baha-who? |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
These creatures are fascinating! I can see some of them have already been used as pathfinder monsters, but do you think ones like these might be inspiration for further bestiaries?
We have and shall continue to look at real world mythologies, cryptozoology, and literature for monsters for Pathfinder. The site you linked is neat! I haven't looked through it all, but I wouldn't be surprised to find some in there that we've got plans for.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
If there were a Pathfinder animated series or something and you could choose any voice actors you wanted, who would you choose for some of "your" characters like:
Merisiel?
Ameiko?
Shalelu?
Desna?
Shensen?
Huh... tough call, but probably...
Merisiel: Aisha Tyler
Ameiko: Mila Kunis
Shalelu: Scarlett Johansson
Desna: Lisa Gerrard
Shensen: Anne Hathaway
Kalindlara Contributor |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Kiora Atua wrote:How do fey in general feel about gnome adventurers they encounter? Do they consider them kin, or allies? Or do they view them as so distantly related that the kinship is no longer there?"Fey" is an entire category of monster that spans all nine alignments, so that's a pretty broad question. Some would feel sad for the gnomes, some might consider them traitors, some would welcome them as long lost friends... but in the most part, they would treat gnomes as they would any other humanoid, as gnomes are, today, so far removed from the First World that they're no longer fey and haven't been for many many many generations.
Noticed the bolded portion. We don't see a lot of lawful fey (beyond the Eldest).
1) What sort of fey are likely to be lawful?
2) Do they just stay on the First World rather than coming over to play with mortals?
3) What is "fey lawful" like? I'm guessing a lot of weird rules and courtly intrigue... maybe a la Hellboy 2?
Thank you! :)
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
James Jacobs wrote:Kiora Atua wrote:How do fey in general feel about gnome adventurers they encounter? Do they consider them kin, or allies? Or do they view them as so distantly related that the kinship is no longer there?"Fey" is an entire category of monster that spans all nine alignments, so that's a pretty broad question. Some would feel sad for the gnomes, some might consider them traitors, some would welcome them as long lost friends... but in the most part, they would treat gnomes as they would any other humanoid, as gnomes are, today, so far removed from the First World that they're no longer fey and haven't been for many many many generations.Noticed the bolded portion. We don't see a lot of lawful fey (beyond the Eldest).
1) What sort of fey are likely to be lawful?
2) Do they just stay on the First World rather than coming over to play with mortals?
3) What is "fey lawful" like? I'm guessing a lot of weird rules and courtly intrigue... maybe a la Hellboy 2?
Thank you! :)
1) Very rare and unusual fey. There's nothing in the monster category that denies they can be lawful. But they're rare. The norns are one example of a lawful fey.
2) No more so than any other fey. There's just not as many of them.
3) Same as any other lawful—there's not a special subset of "lawful" when it comes to fey.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Wait, brownies aren't lawful?
If they aren't, can I suggest tomte/nisse as a not-yet-published lawful fey? They're like Scandinavian brownies who look like garden gnomes, but has a vicious streak if you forget to put out a bowl of feast porridge for them at Christmas or otherwise offend them.
According to Bestiary 2, brownies are neutral.
There's plenty of opportunities for more lawful fey. Whether or not we ever do anything with them, we'll see.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
How do you feel about introducing the main villain in the first or second session of the game?
The idea is to introduce him as force the players can't stop at the beginning and then they must fight and defeat him at the end, showing a tangible growth in power to the players.
I think it's a good idea that is kinda risky. We've done this a few times before in Adventure Paths—Curse of the Crimson Throne, Skull & Shackles, Wrath of the Righteous, and the upcoming Hell's Rebels are all good examples of this happening. Others, we introduce them in subtle ways, as in Rise of the Runelords.
You just have to do it in a way that doesn't trick the PCs into thinking "NOW IS OUR CHANCE TO STRIKE!" because in most cases, that's either gonna be a TPK or a TVK. In either event, the campaign ends before it really has a chance to begin.
Jareth Elirae |
As a long time player and DM of D&D I have sadly only ever had one adventure that has struck pure fear into the hearts of every adventurer who has ever attempted it. Many of my friend since my college games have leveled up with a final "out in a blaze of glory" wish to attempt to defeat THAT place. I have also had players have their favorite and most courageous characters give up and run away grateful for their lives (while the player clutches their most precious character sheets to their chest with a definite sense of mortality). This singular adventure that struck universal and unequaled fear into my players for decades was the original Tomb of Horrors and I have never seen anything to equal its effect on players (the words palpable terror become manifest at the gaming table). I wonder if you have had a similar experience with this adventure or any other. Do you think such a thing will ever be duplicated?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
As a long time player and DM of D&D I have sadly only ever had one adventure that has struck pure fear into the hearts of every adventurer who has ever attempted it. Many of my friend since my college games have leveled up with a final "out in a blaze of glory" wish to attempt to defeat THAT place. I have also had players have their favorite and most courageous characters give up and run away grateful for their lives (while the player clutches their most precious character sheets to their chest with a definite sense of mortality). This singular adventure that struck universal and unequaled fear into my players for decades was the original Tomb of Horrors and I have never seen anything to equal its effect on players (the words palpable terror become manifest at the gaming table). I wonder if you have had a similar experience with this adventure or any other. Do you think such a thing will ever be duplicated?
The tricky part is that Tomb of Horrors came out early, at the height of D&D's popularity, and at a time when there simply was no other high level adventure. So everyone who had a high level character played it. Repeating that notoriety at this point I think might be impossible.
For me, though... it was probably Baba Yaga's hut. I ran an adventure there in college with SUPER high level characters and the players were so terrified of Baba Yaga's reputation that they went through every room without touching a single thing. Turns out... that's a pretty safe way to progress through Baba Yaga's hut. I'm not sure it'd work as well in Tomb of Horrors... but maybe!
Cubed |
For me, though... it was probably Baba Yaga's hut. I ran an adventure there in college with SUPER high level characters and the players were so terrified of Baba Yaga's reputation that they went through every room without touching a single thing. Turns out... that's a pretty safe way to progress through Baba Yaga's hut. I'm not sure it'd work as well in Tomb of Horrors... but maybe!
Is this the Dragon Magazine Baba Yaga's Hut?
Keydan |
A quick followup question to my sneak attack question.
One of the common arguments I hear agains sneak attack examples, such as shooting the head, or breaking skeletons spine " well that's a called shot" or "you should make called shots for that".
The way I see it, called shots and sneak attacks are two sides of the same coin called precision damage, one is exploring a weakness to the fullest when the opponent isn't paying due attention, and the other is hitting the exact designated spot for a predictable result. Its basing the kidneys or liver to do damage vs hitting right in the gut or on the chin to make a man dizzy.
I'd love to hear your take on this.
Lou Diamond |
James, why are the Aspis agents sch puds? They seem to be just placed for pathfinder agents to lay waste to them. They are not scary in the least. They seem to me just a weak plot device. In the Campaign world where I cut my teeth in there was a bad guy group that was to be feared and avoided unless you had to go against them for a very food reason.
They were the Black Lotus Society. Their nominial leader Aaos the mad god was a god. Their leaders were high level mages 12-20th level types
who did not have any wealth by level thingys they were equipped as good or better than the players who had a great deal of magic kaboom as the world was very high magic. The head of the BLS enforcement arm is a Multi-class fighter lighting mage a multi-souled Krag giant. the 2nd in command of the BLS Military wing is a 15th Lead Golem he once was and still is a 15th level fighter. Who was another of the Dark ones experiments all he said was "Was better lead than Dead".
These guys were terrifying to think of encountering let alone fighting.
The snakes just seem to be put out to be ridiculed and stomped on.
Give us some real real bad guys to make us worry about.
The above was a paid advertisement by the BLS. Approved by the Dark One.
Jareth Elirae |
Jareth Elirae wrote:As a long time player and DM of D&D I have sadly only ever had one adventure that has struck pure fear into the hearts of every adventurer who has ever attempted it. Many of my friend since my college games have leveled up with a final "out in a blaze of glory" wish to attempt to defeat THAT place. I have also had players have their favorite and most courageous characters give up and run away grateful for their lives (while the player clutches their most precious character sheets to their chest with a definite sense of mortality). This singular adventure that struck universal and unequaled fear into my players for decades was the original Tomb of Horrors and I have never seen anything to equal its effect on players (the words palpable terror become manifest at the gaming table). I wonder if you have had a similar experience with this adventure or any other. Do you think such a thing will ever be duplicated?The tricky part is that Tomb of Horrors came out early, at the height of D&D's popularity, and at a time when there simply was no other high level adventure. So everyone who had a high level character played it. Repeating that notoriety at this point I think might be impossible.
For me, though... it was probably Baba Yaga's hut. I ran an adventure there in college with SUPER high level characters and the players were so terrified of Baba Yaga's reputation that they went through every room without touching a single thing. Turns out... that's a pretty safe way to progress through Baba Yaga's hut. I'm not sure it'd work as well in Tomb of Horrors... but maybe!
Nothing quite terrified a player like losing their stuff in the first 200 feet of an adventure.
Seamstress_Druid |
Mr Jacobs, I too have a question.
I'm not sure how the politically correct way to ask this so I shall do my best. The brand new Faction artwork symbols are fantastic but one bothers me. Liberty's Edge. If you look closely at Liberty's Edge from the shape of the wings to where they meet at the sword well...I keep seeing the shape of an erect male sexual organ. The Family Jewels are where the wings bend and there is an invisible line that leads up to the sword point to form the shaft.
Why is this? And why do the initials stand for Lawful Evil? I'm not sure if I can take the faction seriously.
Tels |
Mr Jacobs, I too have a question.
I'm not sure how the politically correct way to ask this so I shall do my best. The brand new Faction artwork symbols are fantastic but one bothers me. Liberty's Edge. If you look closely at Liberty's Edge from the shape of the wings to where they meet at the sword well...I keep seeing the shape of an erect male sexual organ. The Family Jewels are where the wings bend and there is an invisible line that leads up to the sword point to form the shaft.
Why is this? And why do the initials stand for Lawful Evil? I'm not sure if I can take the faction seriously.
Aaaaaannd.... Now I can't unsee this.
Dragon78 |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Fey
LN- Norn, Riders(White, Red, Black), Skapraun
LE- Mite, Vexgit, Ankou, Svartalfar
LG- None
1)looks like we still need a LG fey (or more), what about a talking humanoid shape dog knight with a war dog mount?
2)Do you watch Agents of Shield?
3)Will you see the Toxic Avenger remake even if it is only PG13?
4)Are you up to date with watching Game of Thrones?
5)What optional rules from Pathfinder Unchained will you use?
6)What do you think of the unchained Barbarian, Monk, Rogue, and Summoner?
7)Any chance we will get a Aeon, Oni, Azura, Garuda, Couatl, Rakshasa, Kyton, Peri, Demodand, and Qlippoth options for the new Summoner one day?
VoidHerald |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
First post on this forum ever.
First of all, I would like to thank you Mr Jacobs, because reading the Pathfinder adventure paths got me into tabletop RPG and caused me to subscribe to this site. After buying and reading some of the setting's books, I'm really glad I did.
I've got a few questions for roleplay/lore after reading various books. Please pardon me if they have been answered already (considering the length of this thread I believe it would take me weeks to find them).
1) how does Pharasma view the Rakshasas and their reincarnations? Do their fiendish reincarnation means they avoid judgement until the mechanism is disrupted?
2) do Elder Gods like Nodens exist in the Pathfinder universe? Are there for example cults devoted to Nodens on Golarion? And if so, how does Desna view them, since they both oppose Great Old Ones and Outer Gods?
3) how do (in general) outsiders view sorcerers with their blood and who achieved their capstone, aka becoming such an outsider in all but name? For example, would devils see a 20th level Infernal Sorcerer as a fellow spawn of hell and be relatively well-disposed toward him/her?
4) since Qlippoths want demons gone, do some of them recruit, assist or supply mortals with an interest in demon slaying? Whoever is the victor, it would be a win for them.
5) you said Pharasma was the oldest entity in the great beyond, so does this mean she was always the judge of the dead? Or did she simply propose the current system and was chosen for the role?
6) hypothetically, if Pharasma were to be "killed" what would be the consequences for the setting? Would someone be selected by the other gods to replace her? Or can she even be killed at all?
MeanDM |
Hi James!
Hope you're feeling better?
I just read The Longest Road by Stephen King. (It may have originally been a Richard Bachman book). Have you read it? If so, did you enjoy it?
I'm now thinking I'm going to read either The Dark Half or The Regulators next. Have you read either? Do you have a suggestion which is better?
Lastly, have you started Horror on the Orient Express yet?
Have a great weekend!
Analysis |
I was looking at the Chain Lightning spell, which has focus components of a glass rod, a bit of fur and a silver pins per caster level. It seems likely to me that the original D&D spell was written like this to suggest a campy scenario where the wizard rubs the fur against the glass rod to generate static electricity, then conduces it along the pins. Same with the gunpowder ingredients for a Fireball spell.
My question then, in the Pathfinder universe as you see it, when a spell like this calls for focus components (or material components) that a spell component pouch is assumed to contain, do you envision the caster doing something particular with the components, or simply needing to have them on their person, or somewhere in between?
Or perhaps alternately, what does it actually look like to a friendly observer when a typical Acadamae or Magaambiyan wizard casts a Chain Lightning spell? What if anything do they do with the components?
Tels |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
A guy managed to beat Blooborne using an Xbox 360 Rockband Guitar. I feel impotent as a gamer now, how about you?
I'm Hiding In Your Closet |
If you'd been able to use material from the 3.5 Tome of Magic (which I for one dearly love) in Pathfinder, how might you have altered/upped it for the Pathfinder system, and how might Pact Magic/Binders, Shadow Magic/Shadowcasters, and Truename Magic/Truenamers have shown up in the Golarion setting?
The Golux |
James, Why do humanoids get so few skill points per hit die? Is it because there are classes that offer so few, and it doesn't make sense for classes to be worse than racial hit dice? Is it because humanoids are intended mostly to advance by class, or as a way to encourage it? Or is it something else?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
James Jacobs wrote:Is this the Dragon Magazine Baba Yaga's Hut?
For me, though... it was probably Baba Yaga's hut. I ran an adventure there in college with SUPER high level characters and the players were so terrified of Baba Yaga's reputation that they went through every room without touching a single thing. Turns out... that's a pretty safe way to progress through Baba Yaga's hut. I'm not sure it'd work as well in Tomb of Horrors... but maybe!
Yup!
James Jacobs Creative Director |
A quick followup question to my sneak attack question.
One of the common arguments I hear agains sneak attack examples, such as shooting the head, or breaking skeletons spine " well that's a called shot" or "you should make called shots for that".
The way I see it, called shots and sneak attacks are two sides of the same coin called precision damage, one is exploring a weakness to the fullest when the opponent isn't paying due attention, and the other is hitting the exact designated spot for a predictable result. Its basing the kidneys or liver to do damage vs hitting right in the gut or on the chin to make a man dizzy.
I'd love to hear your take on this.
Pathfinder doesn't have called shots. It has sneak attacks instead.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Inner Sea Gods page 50 (Desna)
"The goddess also watches for signs of numerous forgotten and departed deities from ages long past, guarding against their unlikely but ever-possible return".
Might that include the return of a GOOD deity?
no. Why would she want to guard against a potential friend?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James, why are the Aspis agents sch puds? They seem to be just placed for pathfinder agents to lay waste to them. They are not scary in the least. They seem to me just a weak plot device. In the Campaign world where I cut my teeth in there was a bad guy group that was to be feared and avoided unless you had to go against them for a very food reason.
They were the Black Lotus Society. Their nominial leader Aaos the mad god was a god. Their leaders were high level mages 12-20th level types
who did not have any wealth by level thingys they were equipped as good or better than the players who had a great deal of magic kaboom as the world was very high magic. The head of the BLS enforcement arm is a Multi-class fighter lighting mage a multi-souled Krag giant. the 2nd in command of the BLS Military wing is a 15th Lead Golem he once was and still is a 15th level fighter. Who was another of the Dark ones experiments all he said was "Was better lead than Dead".These guys were terrifying to think of encountering let alone fighting.
The snakes just seem to be put out to be ridiculed and stomped on.Give us some real real bad guys to make us worry about.
The above was a paid advertisement by the BLS. Approved by the Dark One.
Sorry they don't work well for you.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Mr Jacobs, I too have a question.
I'm not sure how the politically correct way to ask this so I shall do my best. The brand new Faction artwork symbols are fantastic but one bothers me. Liberty's Edge. If you look closely at Liberty's Edge from the shape of the wings to where they meet at the sword well...I keep seeing the shape of an erect male sexual organ. The Family Jewels are where the wings bend and there is an invisible line that leads up to the sword point to form the shaft.
Why is this? And why do the initials stand for Lawful Evil? I'm not sure if I can take the faction seriously.
It's not intentional. Often, people see in artwork what they want to see, I guess? ;)
In any event, I wasn't involved in approving or ordering the art, so I don't have much more to say about why those choices were mae, but I can't imagine they were intentional.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Fey
LN- Norn, Riders(White, Red, Black), Skapraun
LE- Mite, Vexgit, Ankou, Svartalfar
LG- None1)looks like we still need a LG fey (or more), what about a talking humanoid shape dog knight with a war dog mount?
2)Do you watch Agents of Shield?
3)Will you see the Toxic Avenger remake even if it is only PG13?
4)Are you up to date with watching Game of Thrones?
5)What optional rules from Pathfinder Unchained will you use?
6)What do you think of the unchained Barbarian, Monk, Rogue, and Summoner?
7)Any chance we will get a Aeon, Oni, Azura, Garuda, Couatl, Rakshasa, Kyton, Peri, Demodand, and Qlippoth options for the new Summoner one day?
1) The lack of a LG fey doesn't mean we need one.
2) Yes, but I'm not currently caught up.
3) Probably not. What's the point? Dunno... we'll see, I guess. I was never a huge fan of the first one.
4) Yes.
5) I just gave my players permission to reubild their rogue and barbarian in my Temple of Elemental Evil game... so those two at least.
6) I like them.
7) Dunno. We'll see how much folks want those options. Probably some day.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
First post on this forum ever.
First of all, I would like to thank you Mr Jacobs, because reading the Pathfinder adventure paths got me into tabletop RPG and caused me to subscribe to this site. After buying and reading some of the setting's books, I'm really glad I did.
I've got a few questions for roleplay/lore after reading various books. Please pardon me if they have been answered already (considering the length of this thread I believe it would take me weeks to find them).
1) how does Pharasma view the Rakshasas and their reincarnations? Do their fiendish reincarnation means they avoid judgement until the mechanism is disrupted?
2) do Elder Gods like Nodens exist in the Pathfinder universe? Are there for example cults devoted to Nodens on Golarion? And if so, how does Desna view them, since they both oppose Great Old Ones and Outer Gods?
3) how do (in general) outsiders view sorcerers with their blood and who achieved their capstone, aka becoming such an outsider in all but name? For example, would devils see a 20th level Infernal Sorcerer as a fellow spawn of hell and be relatively well-disposed toward him/her?
4) since Qlippoths want demons gone, do some of them recruit, assist or supply mortals with an interest in demon slaying? Whoever is the victor, it would be a win for them.
5) you said Pharasma was the oldest entity in the great beyond, so does this mean she was always the judge of the dead? Or did she simply propose the current system and was chosen for the role?
6) hypothetically, if Pharasma were to be "killed" what would be the consequences for the setting? Would someone be selected by the other gods to replace her? Or can she even be killed at all?
1) They are, believe it or not, part of the cycle. They're not avoiding judgement. It's how they work.
2) Technically... I guess all the non Great Old Ones and non Outer Gods ARE the Elder Gods. Nodens exists... he's actually not an invention of Lovecraft anyway, but from mythology. That said, I'm not a big fan of the apocryphal "elder gods fight the great old ones" stuff at all.
3) Depends on the individual outsider. Most would probably treat the character with fear or respect.
4) No.
5) Yes; she's always judged the dead and always will.
6) Beyond apocalyptic. That's end of existence level stuff.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Hi James!
Hope you're feeling better?
I just read The Longest Road by Stephen King. (It may have originally been a Richard Bachman book). Have you read it? If so, did you enjoy it?
I'm now thinking I'm going to read either The Dark Half or The Regulators next. Have you read either? Do you have a suggestion which is better?
Lastly, have you started Horror on the Orient Express yet?
Have a great weekend!
That's one of the few I haven't yet read, in fact. I should fix that.
Regulators is MUCH better than The Dark Half.
Starting Horror on the Orient Express on Thursday.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I was looking at the Chain Lightning spell, which has focus components of a glass rod, a bit of fur and a silver pins per caster level. It seems likely to me that the original D&D spell was written like this to suggest a campy scenario where the wizard rubs the fur against the glass rod to generate static electricity, then conduces it along the pins. Same with the gunpowder ingredients for a Fireball spell.
My question then, in the Pathfinder universe as you see it, when a spell like this calls for focus components (or material components) that a spell component pouch is assumed to contain, do you envision the caster doing something particular with the components, or simply needing to have them on their person, or somewhere in between?
Or perhaps alternately, what does it actually look like to a friendly observer when a typical Acadamae or Magaambiyan wizard casts a Chain Lightning spell? What if anything do they do with the components?
That's exactly the reasoning. And I kind of do imagine that's how it works.